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Fabrizio Giovanardi
|birth = 14/12/1966 |debut = 2006 |champs = 2 (2007, 2008) |wins = 24 |teams = VX Racing Uniq Racing with Triple Eight |no = 7 |currentteam = Airwaves Racing}} Fabrizio Giovanardi is a former champion of the BTCC and competitor in the 2014 season. The Italian driver claimed the 2007 and 2008 BTCC driver's titles for VX Racing .http://www.btcc.net/driver/fabrizio-giovanardi/ He has also won titles in France, Spain and Italy, alongside three consecutive European Touring Car Championship titles. Current Season Giovanardi is competing for Airwaves Racing, partnering Mat Jackson in a pair of Ford Focus ST Mk.IIIs. One of seven champions competing in 2014, Giovanardi is expected to improve upon his best finish at the opening round, a ninth place in race two. Background Born on the 14th of December 1966 in Sassuolo, Italy, Giovanardi began competing in go-karts, taking the World Formula C (125cc) title in 1986.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrizio_Giovanardi This was followed by a spell in the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 1987 and 88, achieving a best finish of third in the driver's standings. This was followed by a spell in Formula 3000 which lasted three years. The 1990s saw Giovanardi compete in most of mainland Europe's major touring car series, including numerous Super Touring Car championships and the DTM. In this time he took the Italian Superturismo, Spanish Touring Car and European Super Touring Cup titles, before his focus shifted to the newly reformed European Touring Car Championship. The ETCC saw Giovanardi crowned as champion in 2002, although by the time the series was reformed as the World Touring Car Championship in 2005, he had not taken another title. Two seasons in the WTCC saw Giovanardi take four wins, all in 2005, before he joined the BTCC in 2006 (although he continued to compete in the WTCC for a further season). BTCC History at Oulton Park in 2006.]]Giovanardi began his BTCC career with VX Racing, a team backed by Vauxhall. His impact on the series was immediate, taking his first win at the eighth meeting at Knockhill in Scotland. A second victory followed at Brands Hatch in the following round, with Giovanardi also claiming the 100th win for Vauxhall since the BTCC started. 2007 brought Giovanardi a new car, a Vauxhall Vectra, prepared by Triple Eight and run by VX Racing. A season in which Giovanardi claimed ten wins saw him take the title from Jason Plato at the final race of the season, after Plato was blocked by Giovanardi's future team mate Matt Neal, allowing Giovanardi to finish second to Plato's fourth.http://btcc.wikia.com/wiki/Matt_Neal A third year at VX Racing was to follow. .]]Year three at VX Racing saw Giovanardi retain his title, again after a season long duel with Plato. Until the first race of the final meeting at Brands Hatch (in which Giovanardi took the title with a 14th place finish), Giovanardi had been on a 39 race scoring streak, a run which saw him claim 262 points and another title. His final season with VX Racing (before Vauxhall pulled their support from the team, citing the economic downturn as the reason for their withdrawal) would yield only a third in the final standings. Return Although Giovanardi remained in the BTCC in 2010, he only competed at the first round at Brands Hatch, taking the first two wins of the season. After Uniq pulled their sponsorship from Triple Eight, Giovanardi left for the Superstars Series in Italy. However, Airwaves Racing announced that Giovanardi would be returning to the championship in February 2014, driving a Ford Focus ST alongside Mat Jackson. 2014 also sees Giovanardi pitted against Marc Hynes, a driver whom he competed with in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship. BTCC Record A table containing 's best results in the BTCC. The figures after the information about the car used indicate 's finishing position at each race at that meeting. References Images: *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FabrizioGiovanardiAutosportInternational2009.jpg - Giovanardi *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fabrizio_Giovanardi_2006_BTCC_Oulton_Park.jpg - Giovanardi vs Turkington 2006 *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fabrizio_Giovanardi_Oulton_Park_(Knickerbrook)_(2).JPG - Giovanardi Vectra 2008 Category:Drivers Category:Champions Category:Current Drivers